Valentine's Day at the Phantomhive Manor
by Ertal77
Summary: Ciel Phantomhive is not thrilled about Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, each day he is thrilled about less and less things.


Sebastian glided silently into the earl's Phantomhive office. The young earl didn't even raise his head from his textbook. The butler approached him and, with a smile, placed a parcel in a corner of his huge desk.

"This has just arrived in today's mail, sir."

Ciel furrowed his brow and glanced at the parcel with suspicion.

"A hatbox? Who is the sender?"

The butler smile widened, and Ciel couldn't help to shudder at the sight of those shiny teeth of his.

"Why don't you open it and find out yourself?"

The earl did so, with a grimace of annoyance that only grew bigger when he opened the card that came with the hatbox.

"A Valentine's card from Elizabeth, of course… It is surely some kind of pink eyesore…"

Sebastian was about to object, but he didn't have the time, since Ciel was already opening the lid of the box and staring at the hat that was lying inside: a top-hat, black, of excellent quality, with tiny satin roses in a pale blue attached with a lacy ribbon.

"I was going to say, sir", Sebastian said, "that the hatbox has the logo of your usual hatter in Bond Street."

Ciel bit his lip.

"I must acknowledge that Elizabeth has made an effort". After watching the hat for a moment and caressing the brim with his finger, he dropped it again carelessly inside its box. "I can wear it for a party, I guess. It's too flamboyant for a weekday."

Sebastian closed the hatbox and put aside the card and the ribbon that had tied the parcel. He looked at his master with the corner of his eye.

"If I can be so bold to ask… Do you know today is Valentine's day, right?"

"How could I ignore it? Phantom company has carried out an extraordinary campaign and the sales of chocolates have triplicate. Valentine's Day is one of the best times of the year.

Sebastian suppressed a grin and turned towards the window, pretending to set the curtain right.

"Ehem, yes", he muttered. "That's not what I meant, actually."

"And what did you mean, then?" Ciel asked, watching him through squinted eyes and wrinkling his nose. "Tell me!"

The butler turned his head a bit to look him in the eye when answering. Even though his features were serious, there was a sparkle of amusement in his eyes that was difficult to ignore.

"What I meant is that today is Valentine's day, and someone like you, who has a fiancée…"

His eyes moved, almost accusingly, to the hatbox. Ciel dropped his suspicious look to open his mouth with surprise.

"Ah! You are right, I should send a card and a present to Elizabeth."

"I have taken the liberty of sending miss Elizabeth a box of our finest chocolates in a heart-shaped package, along with a card that I gave you to sign yesterday morning."

Sebastian seemed about to explode with satisfaction. The earl blushed, tried to speak, stuttered and finally mumbled a "thank you", although in fact he looked as if he was refraining himself from strangling his butler. Sebastian nodded gracefully and turned again, caressing the curtain, but his eyes were lost beyond the window.

"You don't seem very thrilled by this holiday, young master", he whispered after a few minutes of silence. Ciel was focused again in his study.

"Why should I? It's just a stupid excuse to sell chocolates, flowers and cards. As the owner of a sweets company, I love it, but I can't see why it should thrill me on a personal level."

"However, you have a fiancée who adores you; you could take the chance and enjoy the day."

Ciel huffed at those words, leaning back on his huge armchair.

"A fiancée who adores me… I don't think Lizzie even knows me well. She 'adores' the mental image of me that she has on his mind."

Sebastian hid a smile, disguising it with a little cough.

"If you are not truly convinced with miss Elizabeth, you can always break the engagement."

"I can't do that! My parents chose her for me, and she has been brought up to be my wife. And no matter what I think about it, the fact is that they have done an excellent job: Lizzie would be the perfect countess Phantomhive."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, looking at his master.

"But?"

Ciel sighed and started playing with his ring. Sebastian had noticed that his young master always stared at that ring, his family ring, every time he reflected over some matter that was a burden over his shoulders.

"But… it's not like if I was to have the time to grow up enough to marry her, right? I'm afraid I renounced to that the moment I signed our contract."

Sebastian turned again to the window, hiding in the curtain a satisfied grin that spread through his entire face. Fortunately, his master wasn't looking at him, and he kept talking to himself, rubbing the blue stone on his ring.

"It's not that I regret anything, and at any rate that night I would have lost absolutely everything. But in those moments I wasn't conscious of all the contract implied, of the amount of things I would have to give up. I was ten years old, what did I know? Even now, at thirteen… there are so many things I don't know. That I will never know. In some months everything will have finished, right?"

Sebastian's smile vanished from his face, and he looked again at his master, without a word, with a silent emotion trembling in his eyes.

"So no, I will never be able to enjoy this stupid holiday, because I will never know what love is. I will never find someone who knows me for real, who cares for me and loves me exactly as I am. Even Lizzie would run away terrified if she knew how I really am."

Ciel laughed, and his chuckle sounded as a dry and unpleasant bark. Sebastian raised his hand towards the boy's shoulder, but he stopped the gesture before touching him and lowered his hand, clenching it into a fist.

The butler took the hatbox again and muttered that he was going back to his tasks. Ciel let him go without a further word. Sebastian headed to the young earl's bedroom to put the hat away inside the wardrobe and then returned to his work, feeling his stomach still tight. Only Ciel could convey such sadness, such desperation, without shedding a tear or raising his voice. He didn't use to grieve for what he was going to leave behind the moment he achieved his revenge. And, as Sebastian already knew, the boy wasn't going to elude his destiny, or delay his revenge as much as he could: Ciel could be young, but he was already a man in many aspects. A man of honour. Brave. Strong. Tough. The demon remembered, with half a smile, the times he had allowed the earl to sustain physical pain. There were quite a few. And Ciel hadn't complained, or not much, at least. Ciel was beyond pain. That pleased Sebastian, of course: What kind of demon he would be, if he didn't enjoy those small cruelties? However, the fact that it was increasingly more evident that Ciel was also beyond pleasure didn't please him. He frowned, noticing how the knot in his stomach tightened. That was not in the contract, Ciel should be happy, he should enjoy of the remains of his life. He was living a time stolen to death, why wasn't he enjoying it? Any other person would have thrown themselves into the arms of beautiful women, would have lost their senses in alcohol everyday, would have deluded their pain with narcotics… This was what he had seen his contractors do, once and again, so why Ciel wasn't doing that? Why that sadness, that apathy? Oh. It wasn't suitable for his tender age, of course. A British lord of thirteen shouldn't do that kind of things. But even so, even so…

The day was perfectly scheduled, as always: after breakfast, the young earl had studied his lessons for an hour, and then one of his tutors had arrived and had spent the rest of the morning studying together; at midday, they had received the sales manager for England and Wales, who had lunch with milord while displaying the sales balance of the previous month. After that, an hour of violin with Mrs. Cunnings, and an additional hour of study. When Sebastian appeared with his tea and a snack, around four in the afternoon, he almost always found his master dozing off on top of his books, exhausted.

That day wasn't an exception. Sebastian approached his master's desk pushing a cart with something covered by an elegant white tablecloth, and he left it in the centre of the office, smiling. He put aside the economics book over which Ciel was slobbering lightly and pushed the boy's hair out of his eyes. Ciel didn't even react.

The butler chuckled quietly and opted by shaking his shoulder gently. Ciel sat up in a snap, with his eyes still half closed and his hair completely dishevelled. Sebastian wouldn't be able to stop grinning even if his master ordered him to. He stepped back to give him some kind of privacy in his awakening. The boy rubbed his eyes, slightly dazzled, but he quickly regained his composure.

"What do I have today? I smell chocolate…"

"Excellent smell, sir." Sebastian walked to the cart and took a delicate teapot and a cup from the lower shelf, pouring to his young master. Once the cup was on the table, accordingly sugared and with a cloud of milk, as Ciel liked, Sebastian cleared his throat to catch his attention. The young earl threw him an inquisitive glance. "In fact, I have prepared you a surprise, that I hope will be of your liking." Ciel wrinkled his nose. Sebastian knew perfectly well he disliked surprises, except when he was the one preparing them. "As you have pointed out before, you don't know if this will be your last Valentine's Day… so I wanted this one to be special", he said and, going back to the cart, he uncovered the mysterious form under the cloth: what was exposed then was a Cupid figure in chocolate. Only that the figure was near a meter high, and it was the chocolate statue more perfect, scented and delicate Ciel had seen in his life. And he was the owner of a sweets company with factories in different countries, so it was saying something. He stared at the figure with his mouth agape, speechless. Then, and only then, Sebastian added: "Happy Valentine's, young master."

And if until that moment Ciel was disconcerted, what his butler did next left him breathless, since the demon came closer to him again, placed a hand on his nape and let his lips rest on Ciel's. The kiss, delicate at first, turned warm soon, and the boy felt a tongue breaking through his lips. Too overwhelmed to react, Ciel obeyed the mute order and opened his mouth, allowing his butler's tongue to slip inside and start playing with his taste buds. He watched, incredulous, how Sebastian seemed to taste him, with his eyes shut and a focused expression on his face. Then the demon's tongue touched his, which was hidden, embarrassed, in the back of his mouth, and Ciel couldn't help to close his eyes again, while a moan escaped his lips and his whole body seemed to vibrate. He allowed himself to surrender to the kiss, to taste as well the mouth that was offered to him, open and sensual, to nibble the lips that trapped his.

When at last Sebastian moved away ( _red and wet lips, oh my god! Was I who turned them that way?)_ , Ciel realised that, in a given moment, he had hooked his arms around his butler's neck. Sebastian cleared his throat, and Ciel blushed and rushed to let him go. He focussed on his cup of tea, embarrassed, and at last he dared to ask, without raising his glance:

"What was that, right now?"

Sebastian cut a piece of the chocolate figure and placed it on a saucer, with a satisfied smile.

"I didn't want you to miss the experience, sir. You know, what you commented on this morning, feeling that someone understands you deeply and even so they love you. Actually, they love you precisely for being as you really are. Now you can't say again that you have never felt that."

Sebastian set the saucer next to the cup of tea, and left the office before Ciel had the time to process his words. The boy kept watching his snack for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, he shook off his reverie and started running, leaving his office, corridor away, calling aloud his butler.


End file.
